796 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



imitat and motu. 



ANSWERS BV 



James Heddon, Dowagiac, Mich. 



Rules for this Department. 



1. Give your name and post-office address. 



2. Be brief, and to the point. 



3. Send no simple questions, such as are 

 :answered in the bee-books. 



4. Ask only such questions as are of 

 general interest. 



5. This department is not intended for 

 advertising- any one's wares — therefore 

 questions concerning- the manufacture of 

 goods for sale are not appropriate. 



6. Direct all questions to the editor — 



THOS. G. IVEWTtiAN, 



925 West JIadison St., CHICAGO, ILL. 



Seeping Bees on Shares. 



Will Mr. Heddou please give his 

 opinion on taking bees on the shares, 

 or on what condition bees are gen- 

 erally let V One man offered me 100 

 colonies, last spring, on the following 

 conditions: I was to take the 100 

 colonies and buy 100 new hives com- 

 plete for $4 each, for the swarms, and 

 I was to receive half of the honey and 

 half of the swarms ; and in the fall 

 he was to take the 100 colonies which 

 he let me have in the spring, half of 

 the honey, and half of the swarms, 

 making the new hives cost me $8 

 eacli. I proposed to take his bees in 

 this way : I was to take the 100 colo- 

 nies in the spring on the same condi- 

 tions as above, except that he was to 

 furnish half of the hives and I the 

 other half. T. W. Dougherty. 



Princeton, 5 111., Nov. 24, 1884. 



Answer. — Perhaps I can do no 

 better than to repeat what I wrote on 

 this subject in last year's Bee Jour- 

 nal, and then ilr. D. can judge 

 which of his two terms I consider the 

 correct one : Tlie " Bees on Shares " 

 <luestion, is one that I have studied 

 considerably. In answering the 

 above, I do so with a prejudice in 

 favor of the laborer vs. the capitalist, 

 a principle herein involved, though 

 on ever so small a scale. Here are 

 two facts : 



1. Bees are to some considerable 

 extent a risky property ; their life and 

 and the amount of their.stores being 

 an unknown quantity. One should 

 have a larger per cent, of income from 

 such property, by three or four fold, 

 than from a good, safe real estate 

 mortgage. 



2. On the other hand, the laborer 

 should have an average income in ad- 

 vance of the " going wages." All this 

 can be realized from the manipula- 

 tion of bees, provided the bees are in 

 proper hives, in a good location, and 

 the work done by a faithful and 

 learned man, and directed by experi- 

 ence and tact. 



I will lay down the following terms 

 as those which seem to me the nearest 

 to being just, and the best adapted to 

 both parties : 



The one owning the bees shall 

 furnish the place to establish the 

 apiary. He shall furnish all the fix- 



tures in every respect. The laborer 

 shall furnish himself, nothing more. 



"The laziest tramp can turn and mend. 

 And be a man ' for a' that.'" 



The capitalist furnishes bees.apiary, 

 tools, new hives for increase, comb 

 foundation for surplus and brood de- 

 partments, in full sheets; sections, 

 shipping crates and everything, in- 

 cluding his riper experience (which, 

 it is supposable, he possesses). He 

 shall have the diction of the general 

 plan of management, while the renter 

 does all the work, and is dictator of 

 the detail manipulation. The division 

 shall be as follows : Each party shall 

 have one-half of the surplus honey, 

 and when it is sold, each one shall 

 pay one-lialf of the cost of sections, 

 shipping-crates and surplus comb 

 foundation that is sold with that sea- 

 son's crop. The capitalist shall have 

 diction over the whole crop, merely 

 dividing the money for the same, un- 

 less the laborer give security for the 

 payment of his half of the sections, 

 foundation and crates, when the 

 honey may be divided, and each sell 

 his own as he chooses. The bees 

 should be managed for securing the 

 greatest amount of surplus possible, 

 and discouraged from swarming, all 

 that such management tends to do, 

 but when they do swarm, they are to 

 be hived and managed as are the old 

 colonies. The increase belongs to the 

 apiary, always ; and any system that 

 gives a share of the increase to the 

 laborer, will defeat itself, and prove 

 in the end damaging to both parties. 

 The old system of half the honey and 

 half the increase, and the lessee or 

 laborer furnish everything, is illy 

 adapted to modern apiculture, and 

 would give the capitalist " the lion's 

 share." Of course the surplus from 

 the increase is divided equally, the 

 same as that from the old colonies. 

 All the reasons for settling on the 

 above terms as the nearest just and 

 best, all around, are too many for this 

 department. 



Convention Notices. 



1^" The annual meeting of the 

 Michigan State Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion will occur in Lansing, Mich., in 

 the Senate Cliamber of the State 

 Capitol, Dec. 10 and 11, 1884, first ses- 

 sion beginning at 10 a. m. on Dec. 10. 

 This being the home of Prof. A. J. 

 Cook, and the location of the State 

 Agricultural College, it is expected 

 that this will be the most interesting 

 meeting ever held by this Society. A 

 programme is being prepared, includ- 

 ing several very important and inter- 

 esting papers from Prof. Cook, T. J. 

 Burrill, Dr. Beal, and E. L. Hewett, 

 and several prominent apiarists from 

 other States. A large delegation is 

 expected from Canada. The question- 

 box will be one of the important fea- 

 tures. Come prepared to ask and 

 answer questions. Reduced rates on 

 all Michigan railroads, and at hotels 

 in Lansing. The President and Sec- 

 retary will be at the Hudson House. 

 Notify me as soon as possible how 

 many railroad certificates you will 

 want, and over what road you will go, 



so I will have time to procure them. 

 A cordial invitation is extended to all. 

 Please come and bring your bee-keep- 

 ing friends with you. 



H. D. Cutting, Sec. 



1^ The sixteenth annual conven- 

 tion of the Northeastern Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association will be held in the 

 City Hall at Syracuse, N. Y., on the 

 21,22 and 23 of .lanuary, 1885. The 

 executive committee are determined 

 to maintain the high standing and 

 enviable reputation which the Asso- 

 ciation has justly gained in the past, 

 and at the coming convention they 

 propose to outdo all former efforts. 

 The meeting will surely be the largest 

 and most interesting ever held in 

 America. No bee-keeper can afford 

 to stay at home. All are invited. All 

 implements of the apiary sent to the 

 Secretary, will be properly arrayed to 

 compare favorably with others on ex- 

 hibition, and will be disposed of or 

 returned, as the owner directs. Re- 

 duced rates for board at hotels. 



Geo. W. House, Sec. 



L. C. Root, Prea. 



W The Central Illinois Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association will hold its next 

 annual meeting in Bloomington, 111., 

 on the second Wednesday in January, 

 1885, at 9 a. m. 



W. B. Lawrence, Sec. 



1^ The annual meeting of the 

 Northeastern Kansas Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will be held in the Court 

 House at Hiawatha, Kans., on Fri- 

 day, Dec. 12, 1884. .An invitation is 

 extended to every one interested in 

 bee-culture. 



L. C. Clark, Sec. 



1^ The Hancock County, O., Bee- 

 Keepers' Association meets in the 

 Court House at Findlay, Ohio, at 10 

 a. m., on Saturday, Dec, 13, 1884. 



Sam'l. H. Bolton, Sec. 



P. A. Rlegle, Pres. 



1^ The regular annual meeting of 

 the Indiana State Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation will be held on Thursday 

 and Friday, Jan. 22 and 23, 1885. The 

 meetings will be conducted in the 

 rooms of the State Board of Agricul- 

 ture, on the corner of Tennessee and 

 Market Streets, in Indianapolis, Ind. 

 It is proposed to make this the most 

 important and interesting meeting of 

 bee-keepers ever held in the State. 

 An extensive programme, including 

 all questions of importance to bee- 

 keepers, is being prepared and will be 

 soon sent out to bee-keepers through- 

 out the State. Prominent apiarists 

 from neighboring States have been 

 invited to assist and presumably 

 many of them will be in attendance 

 during the meeting. These gather- 

 ings are of vast importance, especially 

 to beginners.and all those at all inter- 

 ested in this important industry 

 should make it a point to attend this 

 meeting. 



Frank L. Dougherty, Sec. 



